i think i am fortunate enough to have a watching partner (i know, i know) who i can discuss the show with each week we watch it, without her spoiling a single thing and also to explain things that i sometimes miss. everyone should have someone at their side to explain things, i say. the internet is not reliable for that. too many spoilers out there. PSA: everyone get a watching partner who has read the books.
anyway, you are among those who DO know the story, and i am not. so trust me when i say: if you sorta half-pay attention one week, the show totally stops making sense after a while. i slept on season three and now i am having to re-watch it to make sense of a few things. so while the changes to the book (for the sake of the tv show) may be annoying to some (my 'watching partner' usually explains the differences to me), for me i actually appreciate what i recognize to be added 'reminder' scenes. it's very easy to forget who is related to who and how or why it matters.
i dont really know why i like this season so much. maybe it is because it is less romance-related (like season 3), and more political-ish, like season 1? sort of? i like how so much of the tension in this season is related to the actual structure of the court (literally and figuratively), not as much related to personal relationships (less Shae, less Snow, less Ramsay-Theon). plus my favourite characters have really been able to assert themselves more, so i dunno.